My consciousness rose toward somewhere.
It was a sensation I had felt twice before. Once, most recently, when I purified the Incubator inside the Blackout Zone….
‘…The first day. When the Blackout Zone descended upon the world.’
The day I mutated into an angel.
The being that had made me an angel. Back then, I had only met it while dead drunk and asleep, but now I could tell.
My consciousness must have risen like this then as well.
By the hand of some vast existence, without even the slightest room to resist.
‘…It’s not exactly a pleasant thing to experience, but….’
This time, I found myself smiling.
Should I say I understood why the demon had suddenly threatened me?
‘It must have created a situation where they had no choice but to call me out.’
I had no means of contacting that side. The being that made me an angel only bestowed power upon me; it had never made any real contact.
But that did not mean I was unimportant.
Among the countless mutants in the world, I was almost the only angel.
‘Even they must have decided they couldn’t leave me alone in a situation like this.’
That was why they had called me out in such haste.
It was no different from using me as a hostage, in a way… but I decided to let it slide.
I understood their intention well enough, and I rather liked the result.
Through this, I would grow even further….
‘And I did have some resentment built up toward that being, in my own way.’
I looked around.
Everything around me was filled with light. Each ray was brighter than the noonday sun, yet I did not squint in the slightest.
And there was one being surrounded by the brightest light of all.
[…….]
That being was still far too distant.
Then how did it compare to the being I had faced when purifying the Incubator?
A fragment of the hive that had created the Incubator. That had been nothing but endlessly terrifying. If not for divine power, merely meeting its gaze—one that held no hostility—would have driven me to attempt mental suicide hundreds of times over.
But the being before me was different.
The being before me was not fundamentally threatening to me. I was not afraid.
I did feel a dizzying awe, like looking up at the Milky Way, born from that immense presence… but that was all.
The emotion it held toward me must be nothing but infinitely deep love and compassion.
Agape.
The moment I realized that, the resentment I had harbored melted away like snow….
‘…Melted away?’
My mind snapped awake without warning.
It felt as though I had woken from a long dream. My head was hazy, as if something had been done to me… and in the midst of it, I felt a single thread connected to me.
Divine power.
It remained connected to me, bearing a fierce force.
And the reason was probably….
‘…To protect my mind.’
But from what?
No, that question was wrong. The divine power was clearly protecting my mind from that being.
Then why?
Was the situation truly that dangerous….
‘…It might have been.’
Mental contamination.
What I had just experienced could likely be described that way.
Of course, even if I had been contaminated, I had a feeling nothing particularly catastrophic would have happened….
[Child. You would have become bound to me.]
Suddenly, human language echoed in my head and reached me.
The being made of light had spoken to me.
[I simply do not wish for that. Fortunately, however, you seem to have made your preparations before I knew it.]
“…So.”
Merely facing it made my head ache. If I had been completely mentally contaminated, that would be one thing, but it was even harder because my divine power was fiercely resisting and holding my mind in place.
Even so, it was not difficult to understand what that being was trying to tell me.
That was purely because it was speaking to me in human language.
“…Even if my level had been lower, my mind would have been contaminated just the same? Is that what you’re saying?”
[Indeed.]
The being of light answered as though pleased with me.
It had no face, and therefore no expression, yet I could feel something like a smile from it.
[That is also why I could not pay you any attention until now. Even the slightest concern from me would have prevented you from maintaining your ego.]
“So there was a reason you just threw power at me out of nowhere and gave no further explanation.”
I had been dissatisfied with that being all this time.
Of course, that did not mean I was ignoring what it had given me.
It had clearly granted me power, and through that power, I had been able to move freely and find a way to save my family.
Even so, dissatisfaction had inevitably built up.
Why had my body changed like this? Why had it suddenly thrown power at me and then disappeared…?
Most of those questions were answered by what it had just said.
But there was still one major question.
“I want to ask just one thing. Why did it have to be me?”
[…….]
It only sent me the sense that it was smiling and did not answer.
That alone told me it had no intention of answering, and I clicked my tongue without thinking.
[Let us leave such stale curiosity behind. Answers are not things one yearns for, but things one realizes.]
…I have no idea what that means.
However, I could strongly sense how resolute that being was, so I had no choice but to take a step back.
What could I do when the gap in power was this huge? It was not as if I could threaten an answer out of it.
“…Well, if you’re not going to tell me, let’s get to the main point.”
[You want me to raise you in rank.]
Yes, now we were speaking the same language. I liked how quick on the uptake it was compared to everything else.
“That’s right. That’s all I need from you….”
[Impossible.]
“…What?”
The being of light spoke with a smile.
At those words, my brow furrowed on its own.
“From what I heard, I’ve already accumulated enough standing to be promoted.”
[That is so. That is precisely why we can converse like this now.]
“Then why is it impossible?”
[The power you call divine power. That power certainly originated from me, but it is no longer mine.]
Again with the cryptic talk.
Unable to hold back, I spoke as if pressing it.
As though protecting my mind, the divine power surged even more densely.
“So what exactly does that mean?”
[I handed divine power over to you in its entirety. That power is now uniquely yours, and so the connection between us is not great. You are not a being bound to me, and thus I have no authority to raise you in rank.]
It was still complicated.
But it was not entirely incomprehensible.
“To sum that up, you can only promote beings bound to you.”
[That is so.]
“But since I received divine power in its entirety, I’m not bound to you? So I can’t be promoted?”
Was my understanding correct?
The being of light looked at me and nodded. It had no head, but still.
[To begin with, divine power is a power I gave you. Why, then, would it oppose me and protect you? Because that power is wholly yours, and I cannot interfere with it.]
“…This is driving me crazy.”
I supposed I had to see this as… good news.
I had thought I was a tenant farmer borrowing land from an estate manager, but as it turned out, the title deed to the land had been in my name all along. And Gangnam land, at that.
The problem was….
‘I have to build whatever goes on top of it myself too.’
In other words, I could not just hope someone else would do everything for me.
Of course, it would be better since I was building it myself, but….
‘This is daunting.’
Which meant there was no helping the sighs that kept bursting out.
“Then is there no way for me to ascend?”
[Why would there not be? You have already finished preparing to fly. As it happens, I believe I can offer you some help, at least.]
Yes, there had to be a way, even if it was like this. I looked at the being of light as though seeing a thread of hope.
[An archangel is also called an angel before the throne. Can you guess why?]
Now I understood why they were called that.
If the rank of my soul had been any lower than that of an archangel, I would have suffered mental contamination.
[In other words, it also means you have fulfilled the minimum condition to break the shell.]
“…But does that have any meaning? Other angels, unlike me, are beings bound to you, are they not?”
To begin with, the fact that the only method of ascension the demon, who must have existed since ancient times, knew of was being chosen was meaningful in itself.
One fact could be inferred from that.
Other angels had not received divine power in its entirety, as I had.
[It had no meaning. But child, you alone are different.]
“Because I received divine power in its entirety?”
[Hmm.]
The being of light evaded it like that.
But its voice felt as though it were smiling.
“…If you don’t plan on answering, just say you don’t.”
[I am sorry. However, do not decide the limits of yourself in advance. Since so much guilt has piled up within me, I suppose it would be all right to give you a hint.]
The being of light seemed to ponder for a moment, then spoke.
[Where do you think divine power originates from?]
“That would be….”
The halo.
Most of my divine power poured out from there.
It was the same even now. The divine power connected to protect my mind was linked to the halo.
[Does that not strike you as strange? If what I said is true, divine power should be wholly yours. Yet it is contained in the organ you are least familiar with.]
When it put it that way… it did feel strange.
Why was a power that was mine contained in a place that felt the least familiar to me, a place that felt distant?
The halo was not even a body part. Until I mutated like this, it had no connection to me whatsoever.
I needed to… retrace the halo.
I immediately traced back the thin thread of divine power connected to me.
At the end of that thread, the halo was waiting.
Only after reaching that end did I gaze into the sea of divine power.